APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-one research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.14.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded APA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of APA in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on APA in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp set a $46.00 price objective on APA in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on APA from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On APA

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of APA by 14.6% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,369,000 after purchasing an additional 5,344 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of APA by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 363,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,824,000 after buying an additional 28,474 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in APA by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,181,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,159,000 after buying an additional 377,429 shares in the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new position in APA during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,800,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in APA by 3.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 258,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,412,000 after buying an additional 8,181 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.01% of the company’s stock.

APA Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:APA opened at $42.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.60. APA has a 12 month low of $21.63 and a 12 month high of $47.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.37.

APA (NASDAQ:APA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). APA had a return on equity of 24.84% and a net margin of 19.48%.The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that APA will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

APA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, September 16th that allows the company to repurchase 40,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

APA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 22nd. APA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.14%.

APA Company Profile

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA) is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company’s activities include identifying prospective resources, drilling and completing wells, and managing producing assets across multiple international markets.

APA’s operations have historically been concentrated in the Permian Basin of the United States and in Egypt’s Western Desert, where it participates in exploration and production activities through joint ventures.